


Message

by bernieloverstuff



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Pre-Relationship, synesthetic Groot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 10:43:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2226129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bernieloverstuff/pseuds/bernieloverstuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rocket decides to flirt with someone, with consequences far beyond his imagination.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Groot looked up from the 3D model vibrating on his palm. He had taken a piece of Stark tech and, after realizing how rudimentary it was, taken it down and was now attempting to upgrade the settings as best as possible. The chances didn't look good, considering how primitive it was, but he still wanted to help the human. Tony was on the other side of the room, sitting by the bar. His glow had a twang, an almost metallic taste to it. Groot suspected it had something to do with the arc reactor. It stood out next to the sheen of the three women he was talking to. They had met the females on the previous planet and agreed to give them a ride to their destination, since it was on their way. Every time Stark leaned over the table and said something in a low voice, the females would chirp in high intonations, their colors vibrating between various shades of pink and red, some very deep. They would play with their hair, or the tentacles sprouting from their scalps, laying quick touches on Tony's arms. 

Groot looked down on his right side, where Rocket was sitting on the couch next to him, legs pulled up, nestled solidly against Groot's arm, his index finger flying over the screen he was holding. The Flora Colossus rested his eyes on the small man, his sphere sparking brightly, buzzing. Rocket was completely engrossed by what he was doing, muttering under his breath, shaking his head occasionally. He, like all creatures, had a taste and color as well. Groot just didn't have a word for it. He didn't know if the word existed or not, or if his mind was simply restricted. It was larger than his conscious. He could not describe it. Groot took a moment to feel the warmth of Rocket's little frame pressed against him, and sighed. 

All was right. 

He turned his attention back on the 3D model. 

Across the room, Stark was glancing over to the mismatched duo on the sofa. Frowning, he excused himself and walked over. 

"Can't you relax for one night?" he asked the raccoon. Rocket's brows drew together; he didn't look up.

"I am relaxing," he said. Tony sighed deeply and clinked the ice in his glass, taking a thoughtful sip. 

"You have noticed the blue one has been checking you out for the past two hours, right?" he said with a low voice. Rocket stirred, looking up with an impatient frown. The human sighed, his gaze rolling up. 

"The blue chick," he said quietly, over-pronouncing the words with his lips. Rocket blinked, looking a bit confused, then glanced across the room at the bar. The pale blue woman with short fur and long ropes of hair smiled quickly and pressed her gaze down, running her finger along the rim of her glass. The raccoon puckered his lips. She was interested in him. How was it that he hadn't noticed? Had she been looking at him all this time? Were his senses weakening? Why wasn't he, come to think of it, over there flirting with them? They were all pretty attractive. He used to love flirting, the attention he got from ladies. Why was he sitting over here with a screen? He put the tablet down and jumped on the floor. Groot stirred, looking at him. Rocket glanced at his reflection in the glass of the door, straightening up and petting his coat. Yeah, he looked good. He was a sexy little fucker. He still had it. Time to go over there and kill.

He sauntered over to the bar and hopped up on a stool, starting a conversation with the blue woman. Even though he hadn't done this in a while (how long had it been, years?) he soon realized he still knew his way around. It was like following a script he knew by heart. He didn't even pay much attention to what he was saying, or how she responded. It was more about reading body language, an he had always been good at that. He started to realize it didn't feel like it used to. All the little things he used to relish, like the woman batting her eyes, blushing, giggling, touching his arm with her hand, leaning over while pushing her breasts together... nothing. He almost felt a bit bored. And she was quite beautiful. Rocket's mind started to wander back to the couch, where he had been so comfortable and content. Thinking about how nice it would be to go back there. She gave him the signal she was possibly willing for them to go somewhere private. Rocket knew that was his cue. He excuse himself in a way that didn't make her feel rejected, another skill he'd been forced to master over the years, and slid off the chair. He turned away from the bar, spirits lifted. And now back to the couch, to settle in nicely against-

The sofa was empty.

Rocket frowned. The 3D model was still on, laying on the floor on its side. This wasn't like Groot; he must've hurried out. Rocket left the room, heading for the bedroom of his friend.

***

The Flora Colossus was sitting in the dark room, feet and hands planted on the floor, shaking. He was taking deep, slow breaths, trying to pull in calmness. He always needed to be alone when this happened. He needed privacy to focus, to hear his thoughts, every time a completely new color appeared. There had never been a color quite like this one. It was frightening. It was black. There was no other word for it. Deep, heavy, compressing black, not like space, not peaceful and beautiful. Not frightening the way anger was. Something far larger and more ominous, so personal it was unsettling. He had to get distance between it and himself. His eyes slit open, but he saw nothing but the blackness. It coiled around him, making him hum from the core. His body was still trembling. There was nobody alive anymore that he could ask about this, so he had to figure it out by himself. There had once been souls who understood, who had the answers, but now it was just him. He tried to remember how to do it.

Groot closed his eyes, trying to visualize it. Like a 3D model, like a cloud he could hold in front of himself and watch, observe without fear. Acknowledging its presence, its existence, but watching it from the outside, trying to evaluate and asses it. To understand what it was and where it came from. Why it was here. Because the colors were always there for a reason. They were never in vain; they were messages. Groot had just managed to still his body, to extract the cloud, when the door slammed open.

"What are you cooped up in here for? Ya know you didn't have to throw Stark's tech on the floor, I mean yeah, it's a piece of crap, not even good for scraps, but you could show a little-"

The black exploded over Groot's vision, daggering straight back into his body, making him convulse. No. This was private. He could not let someone else see it before he knew what it was. Before he had it under control. Especially not Rocket. Rocket's sphere could never come in contact with something this black. He needed to be alone.

"Go away!" he roared, hands shaking. His voice was lower than he had expected; the boom surprised him. Rocket stood stiff in the doorway, eyes wide and ears flat, his aura shrinking. His stance lowered and his tail bristled up.

"The krag is your problem!?" he yelled, the anger in his voice barely masking the hurt. The Flora Colossus had never spoken to him like this. Groot steeled himself.

"I want to be alone!" he growled. The raccoon glared at him, shaking, tail swishing from side to side. His little chest was heaving. 

"Fine! Stay in your flarking room, nobody wants you around anyway you damn stump!" he snarled, slamming the door shut. Groot shivered, feeling and tasting the bright, hot little light moving down the hallway, and wanted to follow badly. Nothing was right when Rocket was mad at him. But he had to focus on the black, he had to be alone and find out what it was. So he turned away and closed his eyes.

***

"Stupid... freaking house plant... need him anyway..." the raccoon was muttering under his breath, stomping down the corridor. Stark appeared from the door, holding his 3D model, brows raised high.

"So I'm aware up here this is considered a piece of junk, but it's an expensive piece of junk," he said. Rocket groaned, shaking his head once. 

"I don't know, man, I've never seen him like this. He just freaked out," he sighed. "I have no clue why, came outta freaking nowhere. Acting like he's mad at me." The raccoon spread his arms, eyes wide.

"Me! What the flark did I do?! Nothing!" he exclaimed. He felt a tug at the bottom of his stomach, and his hackles stood up. He quickly pushed the feeling away and looked at Tony. The human sipped the last of his drink, mostly water by now. He rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. 

"He saw the women giving us attention," he mused. "Maybe he got the ugly guy's blues? You know, being reminded of how females probably don't see him as all that... eligible?" Rocket frowned, scratching his cheek.

"Nah, that's definitely not it. Ladies like him plenty," he said. Stark's eyes widened, and he bent down slightly, brows raised. His eyes narrowed and he dropped his voice.

"Seriously? Him? The ladies like him? Does he, I mean..." he muttered. Rocket snarled, waving his hand at the taller man once dismissively. 

"Nah, he's not interested, or if he is, he's real good at hiding it. To be honest, I don't think he even notices. I've had chicks throw themselves at him and he looked like he literally couldn't tell what they wanted," he sighed. Tony straightened up, a thoughtful look on his face. 

"Unbelievable... women are into that... why? What do they see in him?" he mumbled, more to himself than the raccoon. "I mean, how would you even.. like, he doesn't seem to have a..." His hands started making motions in the air, and Rocket stomped his little paw down, ears twitching.

"Cut it out!" he snapped. Stark raised his hands, trying to look innocent. He motioned towards the bar.

"You coming back?" he asked. Rocket groaned, shaking his head as he turned away. 

"Nah, I'm beat," he said.

"What, I'm supposed to please all three of them myself? Can do," Stark said. Rocket made a retching sound in his throat.

"Gross. You're gross," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

In the dark room, Groot opened his eyes.

There it was.

***

Rocket laid the last sandwich on the platter and hoisted the plate up. Tony took it from him, turned around and carried it to the kitchen table. The women were all seated, one of them rather sleepy, while the other two chatted away, sipping coffee. Rocket turned towards the guests of the ship, holding half a loaf of bread in his hand.

"Ya want me to make more?" he asked no-one in particular. Tony crossed his arms, smirking at the raccoon.

"What are you feeding, an army?" he asked. Exhaling deeply, the short man turned back on his stool, and started wrapping the bread up. He wished he had more to do with his hands. Everything on the ship seemed so damn undamaged all of a sudden. He also wished he hadn't woken up this early. Not that he'd had all that much sleep. He hadn't slept alone in years. And the bed? Beds sucked. Why did they have to make them so soft and odorless? Who did that possibly serve? He'd been turning around on his strange little mattress, punching the stupid, meek, soft, flat little pillow for not being Groot. How did people sleep Grootless? Barbaric. Cruel. He huffed, slamming the bread in its container and throwing the cold cuts into the fridge. He started washing his hands furiously. He needed something to do.

He saw the doorway darken from the corner of his eye, and felt his gut tighten up. He kept washing his hands, already clean. Seconds went by in silence.

"I want to talk to you," Groot said demurely. Rocket's hands working under the water, he glanced over his shoulder at the group sitting by the table. They had stopped their chatting and were observing curiously. He swallowed and cleared his throat. 

"Yeah? Go on," he snipped, not looking at Groot. The Flora Colossus stood for a moment, eyes on the raccoon. 

"I wish to speak to you alone," he said. 

"What's he saying?" Tony quipped from his seat. "It's not polite, you know, Groot." Rocket huffed indignantly, closing the tap and jumping off the stool. 

"Fine," he muttered, passing the Colossus on his way out. They entered their bedroom, Rocket crossing his arms, waiting for Groot to close the door. His tail patted the floor nervously; he hated confrontations. Groot looked at him with soft eyes. 

"I want to apologize," he said quietly. Rocket closed his eyes, exhaling loudly.

"Ya coulda said that in there, you know," he said. Dragging him all the way in here, setting him up for some kind of heart attack for nothing. 

"That is not all," Groot said. Rocket blew air out of his muzzle, glancing up in annoyance. Groot looked very carefully into Rocket's eyes.

"I love you," he said. The raccoon rolled his eyes, groaning loudly, and slapped his paws on his face, rubbing it with fervor. 

"Groot! Come on! You don't say that stuff out loud! Guys don't say that stuff, I already know that! Flark, what are you, a girl?!" he complained. Groot's brows drew together, and he seemed to search his friend's face for something. Then realization dawned on him, and his expression became very earnest, concentrated. He lowered his tone. He spoke again, pouring himself into the words completely. 

"Rocket, I love you," he said quietly. The raccoon halted in his tracks, froze completely. He felt his face heat up, his neck, even the very tips of his ears as they pressed down helplessly. His toes curled against the floor, fighting the feeling of elation taking over him. He balled his fists, trying to still himself against the jolts of nausea rippling through him. He felt like he might throw up, but in a good way. He never knew there was a good way. His eyes darting all over except up, where they might meet Groot's, he tried to keep his narrow chest from heaving. His hands rose to his face, then wilted away from it in uncertainty. His body was trembling all over, spiking with sweat, cold and hot at the same time. Joy, then horror, then indescribable joy again. His dry mouth worked to swallow, and he tugged his tail violently, trying to slick it down. It was erect, puffed up, swishing energetically. He cursed his tail. Cursed his ears, cursed his fur. When he needed anonymity most, those fuckers always deceived him. Every single time.

Rocket slumped on the floor with a loud thud, pulling his knees up and hiding his face in his paws, heat swelling up inside him, expanding. His skin prickling all over, he let out an absolutely retched sound, long and whining. There was no hope.

"Yeah," he croaked. "I know." He paused for a moment, shivering. "Me, too." Groot's eyes darkened, filling with softness and immense tenderness. The Flora Colossus slowly sunk to his knees in front of the raccoon, and watched him. Rocket would steal a little peep at him from under his brows. Then another. Groot watched him with a smile, quietly and peacefully. The short man took several minutes to slowly compose himself, his fur softening slightly and his spine uncoiling. Rocket looked at Groot, and a small smile twitched his lips. He stole a glance to the side, clearing his throat.

"So, uh... now what? What do ya wanna do? You wanna, like... I dunno. Be..." he searched for the right word but nothing quite came up, so he settled with some distaste. "Boyfriends?" Groot's brows rose, his eyes widening. He shook his head. Rocket frowned, then his eyes shot fully open.

"You, what, you wanna be like husbands?" he asked louder, in disbelief. Groot shook his head with conviction.

"No, I do not want those things," he said. Rocket exhaled shakily, glancing around. The only phrases he had left in his vocabulary were crude and graphic, not something he wanted to use on them. 

"Then what?" he asked. 

"Those things are not permanent. What I want is permanent," Groot said. Rocket glanced at him, feeling his muzzle and cheeks heat up. He bit his lip.

"We have a word for it," the Colossus added, frowning. "But I do not know how to translate it."

"What is it?" Rocket asked. Groot pronounced the word. Rocket stared at him.

"Krag, no. Yeah, that's not gonna work. I'm not even gonna try pronouncing that," he said. Groot's expression became troubled, and the raccoon quickly waved his hands in reassurance.

"Hey, how about, uh.. how about soulmate? Is that what it means? I mean that's what a lot of cultures call it, right? Something like that?" he suggested. Groot looked into the distance, tasting the word. It did not have the same feel or texture as the word of Flora Colossi. It lacked depth, intensity, meaning. All the little shades and vibrations became so flat in it. Groot looked at Rocket's open, expectant face, and understood that the word was the closest someone like the raccoon could ever come to understanding it. Their bond was there, Rocket felt the same as he did, and that was all that mattered. So Groot smiled and nodded. The short man raised his paws.

"See? Wasn't so hard," he said. Groot raised his arms towards his friend, opening them up. Rocket felt his face flush, a little tremor running down his spine. He sprinted up Groot's thighs, splaying himself against the warm, rough bark of his chest. Feeling the Colossus wrap his arms around him, he buried his face into the nook under Groot's chin.

"You ain't allowed to make me sleep alone again," he muttered sternly, digging his claws into the soft crevice between two plates. "I'm not meant to do that." Groot hummed deeply, a rumbling, amused sound. His long fingers slid into the fur of Rocket's neck, caressing the back of the raccoon's head. Rocket chirped, then froze, realizing the sound he had made.

"You heard nothing," he muttered. Then he closed his eyes again and leaned into the warm, safe crook of Groot's neck, chirping some more. Now that the tension had melted and everything was good again... well, not good. Perfect, better than ever. Rocket realized he was hungry; his stomach let out an insistent growl. Groot trembled lovingly. 

"You must eat," he said. Groaning, not really wanting to leave this little spot he was in, the raccoon straightened up, scowling.

"Fine. Quickly," he said. He slid down and they walked into the kitchen. Tony looked up at them, raising a brow.

"Everything good?" he asked, eyeing Groot. Rocket was ladling sandwiches off the plate and into his arms.

"Yeah, everything's great," he said. The Flora Colossus looked at the blue female sitting by the table. He felt inexplicably bad for her, although he couldn't say why. He grew a flower out of his palm, and handed it to her. Her brows raised, she took the gift from him gingerly. Groot looked at the other women and felt it impolite to leave them giftless, so he grew flowers for them as well. They smiled at him. The Colossus looked at Stark, and for some reason, felt bad for him as well. He took a flower and tucked it gently behind his ear. Tony's face was frozen, alarmed. He glanced at Rocket helplessly, begging for a clue. The raccoon ignored it and turned towards the door, his partner following behind. No way was he going to eat in the kitchen on a flarking chair when he could eat in their bedroom, nestled in Groot's lap.


End file.
